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Finding the Owner of a Rental House
#1
How can one find the contact information for the owner of a house which is rented out?
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#2
(10-26-2018, 10:59 PM)Canard Wrote: How can one find the contact information for the owner of a house which is rented out?

You can perform a search at the Land Registry Office. Not free, though.
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#3
So what are my (free) options for handling a group of renters who have loud parties every weekend aside from calling bylaw, who may or may not show up, and if they do, do nothing, to get these kids evicted?
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#4
(10-27-2018, 11:14 AM)Canard Wrote: So what are my (free) options for handling a group of renters who have loud parties every weekend aside from calling bylaw, who may or may not show up, and if they do, do nothing, to get these kids evicted?

It’s a bylaw issue (and potentially a criminal law matter, in the event of associated vandalism, threats, or whatever else). The owner can’t really do much different than you can; the only possible difference is if they’re worried about their investment in the property they might monitor more closely. Unfortunately we don’t typically have enough bylaw officers on duty. My opinion is that one should be able to expect a fairly prompt response from bylaw, and they should not be slow to issue fines, especially for repeated situations like what you describe. Also, they should proactively patrol known problem areas. With enough enforcement, I think the parties would stop pretty quickly; it wouldn’t be very fun to party if every time the police show up, force all the non-occupants to leave, and totally kill the vibe. Anyway, there are lots of OK places to party — bars, nightclubs — that are away from where people are trying to sleep.

I would also add that while there would be an initial budget hit from hiring more bylaw officers, if the plan worked there eventually wouldn’t be that many loud parties, so the staffing level could go back down. It’s a bit like cleaning the graffiti on the subway cars every day; at first it’s a massive effort, but eventually doing graffiti just isn’t that rewarding, so the amount of cleaning goes back down to a reasonable amount of work.
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#5
(10-26-2018, 10:59 PM)Canard Wrote: How can one find the contact information for the owner of a house which is rented out?

(10-27-2018, 11:14 AM)Canard Wrote: So what are my (free) options for handling a group of renters who have loud parties every weekend aside from calling bylaw, who may or may not show up, and if they do, do nothing, to get these kids evicted?

It wouldn't have occurred to me to call "by-law".  After 11pm, it's a matter for the police, or so I thought.
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#6
(10-27-2018, 11:14 AM)Canard Wrote: So what are my (free) options for handling a group of renters who have loud parties every weekend aside from calling bylaw, who may or may not show up, and if they do, do nothing, to get these kids evicted?

Definitely bylaw. Call the non-911 police number and they will dispatch a bylaw officer. From talking to other people in our building who have called bylaw, they really do show up for noise complaints (it's significantly higher priority for them than complaints about unshoveled sidewalks!).
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#7
If you are trying to reach out to the owner you can always try the whitepages reverse look-up and see what comes back:
https://www.whitepages.com/reverse-address
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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#8
If it's a student house as you kind of suggest, you could try looking for place listed in rental forums especially those for students. Might not find anything if the renters have a longer term lease than 1 school term however.

@tomh009 If you're seeking to call bylaw, it depends on the city, Waterloo has WRPS do their dispatching, Kitchener has it's own contact centre, I have no idea what Cambridge does.

And yes, noise and parking complaints are handled round the clock, sidewalk clearing and other property standards are handled during day hours only, in a queue.... (again probably depending on the city).

Of course, my opinion of bylaw is well known at this point. You have my sympathies.
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#9
It was about 10:30pm when I called. I remember calling last time and calling the wrong number and getting re-directed, so I looked up "Kitchener Bylaw" and called that. They told me to call the WRPS Non-Emergency number. I called that... and they said they'd dispatch a Kitchener Bylaw officer. : facepalm :

Bylaw showed up in about 30 minutes... talked to them for 10 - gave them high-fives and fistbumps and left. I'm making that up. They did this while two other kids came outside and pissed in the flowerbeds.

Minor upshot: One of the cars was parked illegally and got a ticket, so, small victory.
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#10
Right. WRPS non-emergency number is the one, at least for late nights (when noise problems usually happen). At least they came fairly promptly.

Did the party quiet down at all after that?
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#11
No; no change. It was like they had a conversation like, "Yeah, so we got a complaint... but do whatever you want, we don't care. :: fist bumps and high fives :: " and then they left.

I'm turning into dan!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Big Grin

Incidentally the people in one of the other units in the house moved out the next day (Saturday).
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#12
(10-27-2018, 07:23 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: If it's a student house as you kind of suggest, you could try looking for place listed in rental forums especially those for students.  Might not find anything if the renters have a longer term lease than 1 school term however.

@tomh009 If you're seeking to call bylaw, it depends on the city, Waterloo has WRPS do their dispatching, Kitchener has it's own contact centre, I have no idea what Cambridge does.

And yes, noise and parking complaints are handled round the clock, sidewalk clearing and other property standards are handled during day hours only, in a queue.... (again probably depending on the city).

Of course, my opinion of bylaw is well known at this point.  You have my sympathies.

for noise, ALL cities use WRPS Dispatch, 24 hrs a day.  [Parking complaints can also be dispatched through WRPS after hours, but all other by-law matters go to the city direct]  Waterloo & Kitchener by-law officers will be dispatched if they are not already tied up (In Kitchener, there was always at least 1 on shift - dedicated to noise complaints), police will be sent if in Cambridge.  As well, police are sent if by-law tied up, other concerns (ie. Noise is from a domestic dispute, Underage drinking mentioned in the complaint, etc), or there is an officer safety issue. (ie. Known drug house, Occupants known to have history of violence, etc).  Depending on staff levels, by-law may accompany police officer (So they don't have to tie themselves up with the paperwork if charges are laid).

My favorite noise call was in the Bridgeport area, complaint was a noisy backyard party.  Got there and there was a bonfire that was enormous!  Resident grabbed a pack of frozen hot dogs and told me it was a BBQ and to "F off".  Told him I was there for the noise, not the fire.  He was a jerk, and refused to even attempt to lower the music, so I gave him a ticket.  Called dispatch to notify KFD for their opinion on the size of the fire.  Needless to say, before I left, a pumper truck had extinguished the party, and turned his lawn into a muddy swimming pool.  Smile

Coke
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#13
Wow! And my guess is had he not been a jerk, things would have ended differently.

I'm still surprised how many people treat authorities with little to no respect. Always has surprised me.
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#14
(10-28-2018, 10:54 AM)Canard Wrote: No; no change.  It was like they had a conversation like, "Yeah, so we got a complaint... but do whatever you want, we don't care.  :: fist bumps and high fives :: " and then they left.

I'm turning into dan!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Big Grin

Incidentally the people in one of the other units in the house moved out the next day (Saturday).

If that's the response, you call WRPS (Non-emerg) a second time and explain the situation was not resolved.  On a second trip same night, I guarantee charges will be laid (assuming unreasonable noise exists).  Police are also likely to clear the place of anyone not listed on the lease.  Just like the squeaky wheel...

Coke
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#15
(10-31-2018, 09:11 AM)Coke6pk Wrote:
(10-27-2018, 07:23 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: If it's a student house as you kind of suggest, you could try looking for place listed in rental forums especially those for students.  Might not find anything if the renters have a longer term lease than 1 school term however.

@tomh009 If you're seeking to call bylaw, it depends on the city, Waterloo has WRPS do their dispatching, Kitchener has it's own contact centre, I have no idea what Cambridge does.

And yes, noise and parking complaints are handled round the clock, sidewalk clearing and other property standards are handled during day hours only, in a queue.... (again probably depending on the city).

Of course, my opinion of bylaw is well known at this point.  You have my sympathies.

for noise, ALL cities use WRPS Dispatch, 24 hrs a day.  [Parking complaints can also be dispatched through WRPS after hours, but all other by-law matters go to the city direct]  Waterloo & Kitchener by-law officers will be dispatched if they are not already tied up (In Kitchener, there was always at least 1 on shift - dedicated to noise complaints), police will be sent if in Cambridge.  As well, police are sent if by-law tied up, other concerns (ie. Noise is from a domestic dispute, Underage drinking mentioned in the complaint, etc), or there is an officer safety issue. (ie. Known drug house, Occupants known to have history of violence, etc).  Depending on staff levels, by-law may accompany police officer (So they don't have to tie themselves up with the paperwork if charges are laid).

My favorite noise call was in the Bridgeport area, complaint was a noisy backyard party.  Got there and there was a bonfire that was enormous!  Resident grabbed a pack of frozen hot dogs and told me it was a BBQ and to "F off".  Told him I was there for the noise, not the fire.  He was a jerk, and refused to even attempt to lower the music, so I gave him a ticket.  Called dispatch to notify KFD for their opinion on the size of the fire.  Needless to say, before I left, a pumper truck had extinguished the party, and turned his lawn into a muddy swimming pool.  Smile

Coke

I'm not sure about the relationship between reporting and dispatch, but in Kitchener, the corporate contact centre is open 24/7 and will take parking complaints.
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